Beach Lane - By Melissa de la Cruz Page 0,51

of that morning behind her.

The two of them shared a prime outdoor table with an ocean view, underneath a heat lamp. Lucky Yap had swished by and took yet another photo of the two of them. By now it was such a common occurrence, Mara knew how to pose to show off her best side.

Ryan explained it was some party for an old friend of his. Whoever it was, he must be really important, Mara decided. Around them assorted glitterati mingled and table-hopped. Mara had already spotted the teenage star of the summer’s hit movie, the game-winning shortstop of last year’s World Series, and a slew of quasi-famous reality TV stars, from the twenty-something socialites who had shipped themselves off to boot camp to a couple who had met and married on a dating show.

If Megan could see me now, she thought, feeling a little homesick at the memory of her funny older sister, who worked at the local beauty shop and spent her days giving the local clientele her approximation of the latest Hollywood looks. Mara promised herself she would remember every detail so she could tell her sister all about it.

But her mind kept wandering back to the scene in the kitchen. So Ryan had a girlfriend, so what? She kept reminding herself that she had a boyfriend, too.

And so what if Ryan liked redheads? Who didn’t? Mara thought as she unconsciously pulled on her own dark locks. The girl was cute, Mara would give her that. Too cute. She could surf, too. Mara was a flop at athletics. Always the last picked on any team. Cute and could surf. And blessed with a hot little body that filled out her string bikini top. Speak of the devil . . .

“There you are!” the girl said breathlessly, giving Ryan a quick kiss on the lips before she sat down.

Mara tried to curl her lips into a smile, but they wouldn’t obey.

“Hi! I’m Camille!” she said, sticking her hand in Mara’s face.

“Mara.”

Camille leaned forward to whisper something in Ryan’s ear. The two of them started to laugh, and Mara felt extremely uncomfortable.

“Sorry! We’re being so annoying, aren’t we?” Camille asked. “Being in love is so sick!”

“How did you two meet?” Mara asked. She and Ryan had avoided talking about this—her—until now, but Mara was above all that. At least, she would try to be.

“Oh, I used to work for Ryan!”

“How do you mean?”

“She was, uh, one of the au pairs . . . before you guys came,” Ryan explained, a little apologetically.

“Yeah, getting fired was, like, the best thing that happened to me! I got a job at Bamboo and I’m staying at my friend’s place in North Haven. And now I don’t have to feel guilty about dating the boss’s son!”

Ryan laughed nervously.

“So! Mara, you replaced me!” Camille joked. “How are the kids doing?”

“They’re fine. We take them to Georgica every day,” Mara said.

“GEORGE-i-cuh,” Camille said, batting her eyelashes.

“What did I say?” Mara asked.

“George-EEE-cah.”

“Oh.” Mara couldn’t tell the difference.

“Accent’s on the first syllable, not the second,” Camille explained. “Lots of newcomers do it. Where are you from? New Jersey?”

Mara had been in the Hamptons long enough to know when she was being insulted. She didn’t reply.

“Ryan, let’s go dance! Can we dance? Please . . .” she whined, pulling Ryan up to the dance floor, leaving Mara at the table alone.

Mara ordered another drink, determined not to feel abandoned. She couldn’t tell exactly why she was so irritated. A breathless Eliza rushed in and took the empty seat.

“I’m so sorry I’m late! Jeremy and I went to Lunch for dinner and we got lobsters and corn bread. I’m SO fat from the carb bloat!” Eliza giggled as she kissed Mara hello.

“Jeremy with the clippers? You went out with Jeremy?” Mara asked. She’d met him the first week. He’d been really nice about helping her navigate the estate. Mara looked at Eliza with a new perspective. Jeremy was a real good guy—a solid guy—she didn’t think someone like Eliza would ever be interested in someone like him.

“Yeah, we spent the whole day together. It was awesome. Oh, look, there’s Lindsay. Hiiiii!” Eliza said, waving.

“So why didn’t you bring him? Didn’t you have a plus one?” Mara had learned that anyone who was anyone had their name “plus one” on the guest list.

“Oh, he would never fit in here,” Eliza said between getting up and saying hello to her friends.

“What do you mean by that?” Mara asked.

“You can’t just bring